Chapter 173 Thalia, You're Killing Me
"What just happened to you? Who did you see? You looked so freaked out."
Layla stood in the dressing room watching her remove her makeup.
Thalia looked at Isla taking off her hair accessories: "I think I saw William."
"Isla, you're pulling my hair."
"Sorry, I was just thinking about what Mr. Brown would think if he saw your bed scene with Gregory."
Layla's mouth twitched: "You can't be that unlucky!"
Thalia thought to herself, damn, she'd used up all her luck in this life just being born.
After removing her makeup, Thalia headed home while trying to calm herself down. As soon as she pushed the door open and saw the apartment was pitch black, her heart settled a bit. William wasn't here? She must have been mistaken.
Thalia let out a huge sigh of relief. Just as she changed her shoes and was about to turn on the light, William's deep voice came from the sofa: "You're that happy to see I'm not here?"
Thalia's heart suddenly started racing.
Was it too late to run now?
Would William kill her if she stayed?
Thalia's toes twitched slightly, her hand reaching out for the doorknob when William's cold voice rang out: "If you dare run, I'll hunt you down to the ends of the earth and drag you back to break your legs."
Hearing this, she forced an awkward smile and turned on the light: "Of course not!"
"Feeling guilty?"
"Guilty about what?"
"Physical contact and actions are totally normal when filming! It's part of my job, I didn't cheat on you."
"If we take away the filming aspect, would your behavior with Gregory count as cheating or not?"
Thalia tried to defend herself: "That's a pointless question. If we take away the filming aspect, I wouldn't necessarily let him touch me."
"Really? I saw you staring pretty hard at his abs."
Thalia opened her mouth, speechless: "Don't adults have the right to appreciate beautiful things? Is looking illegal now? Should I gouge out my own eyes?"
William had always known Thalia was quick with words, would rather gaslight others than reflect on herself. In short, she was never wrong.
William brought the ashtray to his face, tapped his cigarette ash, and looked at Thalia without saying a word. His gaze was oppressive and intense. Under the warm yellow spotlight, William sat on the cream-colored sofa, his eyes fixed on her through the thin smoke. The air was still, and his eyes were darker than the night itself.
He'd known Thalia's personality all along and had mentally prepared himself before marrying her, but when he saw Thalia having physical contact with another man, for a moment he wanted to kill everyone present—everyone who saw it and everyone involved.
Thalia stood in front of him, cornered by his deep gaze, knowing that if she didn't try to soothe him now, not being able to get out of bed tonight would be the least of her problems—William losing his temper and actually killing her would be the real issue.
"Are you angry?" Thalia crouched down by his legs, looking up at him.
She was obedient and adorable, like the Ragdoll cat at home—so noble that even her apologies carried a hint of pity and condescension toward you.
William finished one cigarette and lit a second. As he did, he reached out and grabbed Thalia's chin, forcing her to look at him: "How many more of these 'job responsibilities' do you need to fulfill?"
"Not sure," who would pay attention to such things? She just filmed whatever the script said.
William's rough fingertips rubbed against her face: "Not sure or don't want to know?"
Thalia frowned.
William asked again: "Come on, tell me, whose body do you prefer—Gregory's or mine?"
Is he jealous?
Thalia's legs were numb. She changed position to sit up, but William grabbed her waist and pressed her down on the sofa. He took a deep drag of his cigarette, grabbed Thalia's chin and kissed her, the smoke from his mouth traveling through Thalia's throat and mouth, rushing upward.
Her breathing became irregular, her whole body went soft, as if someone had pulled out her bones, leaving her powerless to resist.
When things got intense, William sensed something and lifted himself up to look at her: "Your period still hasn't ended?"
"I've been stressed and busy lately, it came back again."
William threw his cigarette into the ashtray, speaking through gritted teeth: "Thalia, you're killing me."
.........
After showering, Thalia came out drying her wet hair and saw William sitting on the bed in his pajamas, a cigarette between his fingers, barely smoking it.
"You've been smoking a lot lately!"
William stared at her, watching her in her loose silk pajamas, water droplets on her face, so beautiful he couldn't look away.
"Come here," William didn't answer her question. He casually placed the cigarette on the nightstand and opened his arms to her.
"What's wrong? Unhappy because we can't have sex?"
William touched her half-dry hair: "Can't I be unhappy?"
"You can!" She nestled cutely against William's shoulder, breathing in the faint scent on him.
"Mr. Brown finally willing to change his body wash?"
William chuckled: "I have to thank my wife for that—she finally bought me body wash."
Thalia raised an eyebrow, feeling William's hand move along her tailbone up to her back.
This technique was like stroking a dragon's reverse scale. Thalia grabbed his palm: "Mr. Brown, I'm on my period."
"I know."
"Then why are you touching me?"
"I can't be the only one suffering, can I?"
Thalia's mind went blank. William was so petty.
........
"Gregory, I bought the water."
Gregory was staying in the hotel's presidential suite. After finishing filming, he wanted water, opened the fridge to find it empty, and asked Luca to buy water—specifically requesting cold water.
"Go rest!"
Luca looked at the closed door, thinking Gregory definitely had feelings for Thalia.
Inside the suite, Gregory downed several bottles of water before recovering. He definitely had feelings for Thalia.
He was still immersed in Thalia's confused and helpless expression, just like an innocent little rabbit who was clueless about such things.
"Hello."
"The person you asked me to check on—I looked into him again. I sent the information to your email, take a look."
"Thanks." Gregory hung up and opened his email to see over a thousand words of information about William.
He had just sat down to read it carefully when there was a knock on the door. Thinking it was Luca, he opened the door only to find Nora standing there with watermelon: "Just finished sharing with the crew, this is Gregory's portion."
Gregory looked her up and down: "Does Nora always dress this transparently when delivering watermelon?"
"What do you mean, Gregory?"
Gregory leaned against the door, looking down at her: "Do I need to spell it out? Or should we ask that camera behind you to explain?"